"Liz, wait a few seconds and then converge on me!" James shouted on the radio unbeknownst to him that he had called her informally.
he then clicked the button.
Almost immediately, a loud screech shook the beach as groups of the Swarm started heading to Crawford. He raised his gun in acknowledgement and started to fire as the Swarm came closer and closer.
Sh't Elizabeth where are You
"Hurry Up" James said as the aliens multiplied.
Liz didn't wait more than a second after she heard the screech from Hell, flooring the vehicle forward.
’TARGET LOCKED’
She pulled the trigger, mowing down the oncoming assault.
Not today you sons of b–
She hit another button and a large resounding BOOM answered quickly followed by another loud shriek from the Swarm.
All around James, Explosions happened as the Swarm was ripped apart. He held the gun and kept firing into the group as they kept charging towards him.
Die You Sons of B'tchs!
James then threw a flame grenade into the masses, lighting them all on fire.
Liz continued her onslaught, watching the number of hostiles dwindling. She only broke concentration for brief intervals to make sure that Crawford was still registering on the sensors.
James breathed a sigh of relief as the drones went on their last few.
Soon enough, the final drone was annihilated and James dropped his gun and fell on the floor.
Thank god!
James then spoke into the walkie talkie.
"Li-Elizabeth, it was nice working with you."
He then got into the car and brought everything back into storage. Just then, a message was radioed in by Captain Blake.
"Everyone if you are hearing this, it means that we alive but stranded in a unknown Planet in the middle of who knows where. Come to the crew hall for debriefing."
”Likewise, Commander.” she smiled following to put the AMT back. ”Don’t think I didn't catch what you called me earlier.” Once the tank was powered down she started for the crew hall as ordered.
James walked into the crew hall as did everyone else and took a stand next to Captain Blake. He then put his weapons away and said to Blake.
"So what are we going to do?"
"You'll see, I can't show favouritism because of the fact that were childhood friends," Blake answered.
"You don't need to say that, It will just cause unrest."
"Fine" Blake responded.
James then noticed that he had left his radio on.
Sh't
Liz was a bit confused by what she accidentally overheard but didn't respond physically. It wasn't meant for her, anyway. Still, kinda cool that Crawford was/is? old friends with the captain.
Once at the gathering, she fell into rank. Her face calm and patiently awaiting orders like a good soldier should be.
Blake took a deep breath before starting his speech.
"As you all know, we crashed in the middle of nowhere with a fried communication device that we cant use again. You also may know or not know that Sixty Swarm drones had come with us on the journey and thanks to Commander Crawford and Lieutenant Harper, the calamity was avoided."
"Now we come to the more important bit. From what we know, we landed on a planet with some signs of a civilisation thanks to the satellite imaging caught by Singapore while on its crash landing."
Blake turned on the screen behind him to show huge cities and buildings.
"We don't know how dangerous this world is but what I do know, is that we shall survive, as did our ancestors. You may find all the necessary information on the Local Military Forum.
This meeting is adjourned"
(Didn't want to write an information dump)
It was hard not to feel a small swell of pride at being mentioned in the speech, but she didn't enlist to be a hero so she refocused on the images.
Nice architecture… Lack of modern tech though. Liz noticed slightly dejected. Chances of getting off this world just got pretty low.
(It's ok. I know those are never fun.)
James watched everyone go before facing Blake.
"You do realise the fact that the other information has to be let out?"
"I-I know, just don't want some people to go and act by themselves." He responded hesitantly.
James brought out a screen in front of them and turned it on. What was visible was a picture of a dragon like creature being ridden from what seemed like elves?
"Let's talk about this later," Blake dodged the question, hurrying out of the room.
Still the same James shook his head with a smile.
He then saw the lieutenant standing looking at the image. He got off the stage and walked towards her.
"You seem to be interested in this picture?"
Liz turned back to Crawford, relaxing a bit when she saw everyone else had left. ”Just admiring the architecture. It almost looks like something out of a story.” She glanced around the room for a moment before expressing her concerns. ”I don't want to seem pessimistic but… I don't see any sign of modern technology in any of those pictures. So repairs are going to very difficult at best… Impossible at worst.” She gave a light sigh as if asking for him to say she was wrong.
"You never know, They might have something we don't." James said to Elizabeth.
James walked beside Elizabeth, put one hand on her shoulder and said.
"We may never get off this planet but we should always keep the burning fire of hope kindled." He then walked out into the crew quarters and into his room.
Well tomorrow is going to be a long day
Liz raised a brow, “Why, Commander. I had no idea you were a poet. You could make a girl swoon with talk like that.” She batted her eyes at him as he left. Once she was alone she slumped a bit looking at her slightly shaking hands. Leftover adrenaline from the fight. Not gonna be able to sleep like this… I’ll just have to work it out of my system in the training room for a bit.
James fell onto his bed and went into a deep sleep. His last thought,
Dragons, freaking Dragons!
After Liz had run a few laps and knocked around the punching bag for a while, she cleaned herself up and went to her quarters to try and rest. She was pretty exhausted from everything that had happened in the past… Not even 24 hours. Unless I was unconscious for longer then I thought when we crashed.
She let out an annoyed groan as she realized that fact, deciding to just stop thinking about it and get some sleep.
James woke up from his slumber, took a shower, then cooked some food for himself to eat. He then put on some clothes and headed to the shooting targets.
Grabbing a rifle from the stands, he started to fire, each shot hitting the head, the neck, or the heart.
Briefing in four hours, great
He then headed towards the gym and started to exercise.
Liz woke up a bit more sluggish than normal, the events of yesterday still playing through her head. Seeing the morning memo, she got ready and headed to the mess hall.
I should probably stop by the med bay today. I doubt I have a concussion but… I really should have gone yesterday. Doc’s gonna chew me out. She chuckled humorlessly.
"Attention all Crew Members, This is your captain speaking. Please all come for the debriefing." Blake's voice uttered through the speakers.
James had finished his exercise and had finished his shower. After putting on his battle suit, he headed towards the hall, guns sitting the their holsters.
What have you got in store for us, Blake
He then, like all commanders got up to the stage and stood beside the captain. Their view covered almost everyone and James saw the people flooding in.
(Sorry for being late)
Liz had just finished eating when she heard the announcement. It didn't take her long to hurry into the meeting, anxious to hear what the captain had to add from last night.
(It's ok.)
"I believe all of you have figured this out but the chances of us leaving is close to nil. So I after great consideration, have decided to let you on to something that might cause unrest."
Blake took a deep breath before continuing.
"When we came on to this planet, there was something else we saw, something from a fairy tail. A dragon."
Blake moved himself to the side as a picture came on the screen.
It was of the dragon he had showed me. I stayed silent, as did Blake so everything could digest.
"You may ask me questions if you wish." Blake finally said.
Liz’s jaw dropped, seeing the picture. The crowd buzzed around her murmuring their disbelief, amazement, and concern. She caught questions along the lines of; ”Are we safe?” ”Is it a machine?” ”What are we going to do about it?” ”Are there any plans on how to kill it?”
Liz had a question of her own. ”What about the Natives of this world?” She asked, seeing the daredevil on the Dragons back.
"I shall answer all of them…" Blake responded.
"First, we should be safe, and no it is not a machine."
"And responding to the question saying if we have any plans to kill it, there is nothing devised yet as we have no information related to this monstrosity."
"Early images show different type of architecture in certain locations, preceding to the fact that they may be more than one race in this world and dragons may not only be the beasts here." Blake answered to Elizabeth's question.
”Like what? Faeries?” Some random guy joked, causing Liz to roll her eyes while a few others laughed.
”Any evidence to support whether or not any of the natives are inherently hostile?” Liz managed to ask while another shouted: ”What are our orders if we come across any natives?”
Blake and James both narrowed their eyes at the person who had joked before responding.
"There were pictures of armies marching to an unknown area but it is still inconclusive whether they are hostile. Regarding your second question, please proceed with caution but stay peaceful unless under any threat."
The screen showed multiple pictures of huge armies with dragons flying alongside of it. The weapons and armors were medieval looking but the most interesting people were ones who were holding staffs or nothing yet everyone was staying away or close to them.